Chapter 24

"She looks so much more peaceful in sleep..." Viper and Po were guarding their feline friend, having found a bush to reside in briefly. Mainly, they all stayed silent, as someone could hear them and then they'd be really screwed - neither were in a position to go anywhere.

Flashback

Pain stood behind as Tigress, almost comically, fell to the ground. There was a gash wound where the jagged knife had caught her skin, but Pain hadn't managed to inflict any deep wounds thankfully.

Still, that wasn't going to make his act forgivable. Po was rarely angry, hardly ever, but if you hurt someone close to him, then they pretty much asked for it. Having grabbed Tigress' knife, he watched Viper begin to beat the living heck out of Pain, because quite honestly she was furious. Nobody hurts her sister and gets away with it, so deal with it b*tches! (a/n: sorry. just had to put that there!) The knife was in Po's grasp.

But there was no reason to kill him yet... Sure, he'd hurt Tigress, but that was wrong. Two wrongs never make a right...

Before Po realised, Pain had Viper held in a sudden death grip, with one knife edging around her neck, and the other around the unconcious Tigress' neck.

"We... we can work out a deal. You don't want them, you want me, right? I'm Po, see yeah? You don't need to hurt them. Please." Attempting reasoning soon proved worthless:

"Nah, I'm gonna kill 'em, more fun that way, then I'll kill you, or maybe leave nature to do it's work. But first these two die. Which one? Stripes? Yes, she was getting in the way too much, I'll start with her..." Po had no choice in the matter, as the knife began to slowly draw a little blood.

Hopefully Pain didn't suffer too much. A strike right between his eyes, it mut've killed him relatively quickly. The knife impaled itself there, as Viper slid out of the grip choking slightly.

Po Ping had, cold-bloodedly, killed someone.

There was no other way.

"C'mon, let's not let this knife go to waste..." Pausing slightly at Po's shocked frame, she murmured, "You grab Tigress," Before she slid up to the dying Pain and grabbed their knife, then flipping him over and chacking him for supplies or weaponry.

Mainly, she found lots of knives. An awful lot of knives.

As they walked off into the distance, abandoning Pain's dying corpse, they said nothing, for there was nothing that was so important that it needed to be said.

"I know. Like the weight of the world has been lifted off her shoulders." Viper's short reply led back to the calming, yet awful silence.

TIGRESS P.o.V

Where am I? All I can see is darkness, nothing exists where I am. This cannot be paradise, nor where the Gods are. I am not worthy to contact the Gods.

There! Sprinting over to a figure, lying across the floor, I stare down at it. The sight horrifies me.

Crane's bloody, beaten dead corpse.

Fighting the urge to scream, I call out to anyone, anything, "Hello?"

"Oh, hello dear." It's the unidentified, presumably male creature who cannot remove his hood, who has a psychopathic mind.

Perfect timing.

"What do you want? Where am I?"

"I can't tell you where we are. Think about it. What do I want? Look around you. Oh, I'm not going to hurt you, it's not all a big trick, as entertaining as that would be..."

"Is this some kind of sick joke?" Stridingaway from him, I spot another two bodies, rushing up to them. Turning them only revealed my worst fears to be true, as I emit a small gasp. The dead corpses of Monkey and Mantis lay there, painfully unalert.

"Oh, look, how sad. How unpredicatble. You know who's next..." Another cor-body lay. Not wanting to know, yet feeling this undeniable urge to discover who, I went up to the corpse, the figure always following me in a creepy stalkerish way.

Oh god. Oh god. It's Viper.

Crying out in anguish, I pound the floor hard, holding Viper to my chest. No. Not Viper. Not Viper. Viper's still alive.

"You did this." The cold statement broke the silence.

"How could I have done this?"

"It was you. All of it, it was all you. You killed them."

"I-I never killed them, you beast!" Attempting to lash out at him proved fruitless...

Oh no, oh no, I cannot do this... I can see one, final corpse in a far corner. Unable to prevent my feet from moving towards it, unable to close my eyes or turn my head, I stare down at him.

No.

Tears threaten to break through as I scream out loud, not caring who or what hears anymore. I hold him tighter than anything to my chest, his bloodied, bruised, dead corpse, and rock forwards and backwards, more to comfort myself than anything.

"No... No... No... NO!" A few tears slip down onto Po's body. Suddenly, I feel myself being pulled away from him, dragged forcefully. "NO!" I scream out, reaching for him, as he gets further away. "NO!" Fighting against my captors, it makes me realise how much I need him. He can't die, no, he can't he has to live, I will gladly die for him, GIVE HIM BACK TO ME! I know there are tears streaming down my face, in an uncharacteristic show of emotion. The world is such a cruel, horrible place, and Po is such a lovely, kind person. He never deserved any of this. I deserve it all and more. I deserve hell, for I will never be as good a person as he is. "PO!" My last, desperate cry is to air, as he has disappeared. I can't see anything, I'm surrouded in darkness, I have no form, and I can feel myself leaving this place and moving to another.

Maybe I am dying. Dying in Po's place. Wouldn't that be easier? I need to make him look amazing. Be his lover, maybe? Make him popular? Give him the weapons? Look into his beautiful, grass-green eyes and tell him everything is okay?

Subconciously, it dawns upon me at that point that there is at least a small part of me that is completely in love with Po. Much as it pains me to admit it, I realise that I do have a bit of me that loves him dearly, though I can quite firmly say I am not fully in-love with him. Only a small part of me is in-love with him in that way, the rest loves him as a friend. Maybe nearly losing him made me realise that.

Arising into reality is a cold, brutual experience. Everything is one big blur, as I blink my eyes, and regain my senses, still very shaken up. When everything comes into focus, I see Viper and Po leaning over me, anticipation of my awakening written all over their faces. When I am able to push myself up off the floor, I notice the worry also on their faces. Bringing a hand to slowly brush my eye, I watch in awe as a tear drops to the floor. I wasn't just crying in my sleep then.

Suddenly it hits me, an emotional rollercoaster.

I nearly lost Po.

So, I didn't plan it, but I do what I can and improvise using instincts. Grabbing his hand tight, to check he is real, I pull him in and kiss him.

a/n: REVIIIIIIEW! RATE AND REVIIIIEW! THANK YOU AND GOODNIGHT!